Tag Archives: Business Growth

Here is my review of the pitches we saw in Shark Tank Australia episode 4 – yet another great show demonstrating the diversity of Australian innovation. It was pretty exciting to see such a big pitch come into the Tank… Scope My Project – The two founders clearly did not appreciate the sorts of questions or understanding required to attract investment. A businesses to business service – yet I had the feeling that it had just been created on the…

I know this might sound fanatical – but I kept a database and notes on every single pitch that we saw during the filming of Shark Tank for TEN. This could be because I need an extra brain – or it might be because some of the businesses we saw were just a little early stage… but as far as I am concerned I really want to keep them on my radar… just in case I get a second chance…

Over the course of many weeks as we filmed Shark Tank Australia we sharks waited patiently for the large doors to open and a ‘pitch’ to commence… Until that moment we had no idea who or what would be presented. I kept notes of each of the pitches and I thought I would share them now that the series is on air. (I also to a photo on set of each of the pitch set’s – as you can see…

I already feel like a ‘winning woman’ – having been selected to participate in the inaugural EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ (EWW) Asia-Pacific program. 2015 will be an exciting and massive year. I also know that to stay at the top of the game I have to keep learning… reading, listening, discovering. And one of the best ways is to meet like-minded people who have deep experiences that they are willing to share. And whilst I have been speaking with EY…

Way back last century I thought it would be a great idea to leave my safe, secure and (relatively) well-paid corporate job to start my own business. I had worked for big corporations, who had big budgets, planning processes, accounts departments and IT help desks… in startup land you have none of these things, and there is no one to ask about anything. Last century we did not have Google as a “question/answer tool,” or YouTube with “how-to videos,” or…

I’m not being flippant here in suggesting that being happy is my “hack”. When the editors of LinkedIn sent out the brief requesting our insights into the productivity hacks that we use, I looked at all the things I do, from shared document reporting, to online diary requests systems… All of these add consistently to being productive. The Cloud has transformed the way I work – and not just my productivity but that of all those around me at RedBalloon….

I’m looking forward to my keynote at the Small Business Summit next week - I did this interview (included below) for the local radio station about what I would be speaking about. My interview with Tony Eades covered so much in such a short time – and it gives a flavor for what I will share at the event. Whether you can attend or not – you might find insights and value in the interview. The topics include: My opinion…

I was recently interviewed by AICD (Australian Institute of Company Directors) on three things I wish I’d known… (very pleased I could squeeze all those years and years of hard work into a 2 minute video) Going from urgent to urgent – rather than taking a longer term view. Most businesses in start up phase are in a constant state of ‘urgent’ having a longer term view can all serve greatly the effectiveness of effort. Three things I wish I…

Think about the brands that you love – how do they make you feel? What do they mean to you? Now think about those bill boards that you pass every day – for businesses and products that don’t stand for anything and don’t mean anything (and they may also not be relevant to you either). The point is you don’t think about them, you manage to filter them out of your consciousness. Humans’ are multi sensory beings that are ‘meaning’…

I was interviewed earlier this week by a senior journalist and at some point in the conversation the word “mumpreneur” was uttered from her lips. I said with great indignation in my voice “Really!” – why would you use such a word to describe women earning an income at home when men in a similar situation are not labeled “dadpreneurs”? There is a whole group of bloggers – known as “mummy bloggers” – who perhaps are blogging about their experiences…

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Considered an Australian tech success story, I founded RedBalloon in 2001. It has now served 2.5 million customers. I have many labels: entrepreneur, speaker, director, mum, author, blogger, innovator and passionate to name a few. Read More »

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